{"id":225136,"date":"2026-01-07T09:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/225136\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T09:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:49:08","slug":"ramon-rodriguez-on-that-premiere-cliffhanger-and-more-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/225136\/","title":{"rendered":"Ram\u00f3n Rodr\u00edguez on That Premiere Cliffhanger and More (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat To Know<\/p>\n

Will Trent Season 4 picked up months after the events of Season 3\u2019s finale, resolving one major cliffhanger and introducing another.
\nHere, series lead Ram\u00f3n Rodr\u00edguez, who also directed the episode, breaks down the highlights of the episode and gives a taste of what fans can expect going forward.<\/p>\n

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for\u00a0Will Trent<\/a> Season 4 Episode 1, \u201c\u2026 Speaking of Sharks.\u201d]<\/p>\n

After a very long wait,\u00a0Will Trent is finally back! And though the Season 4 premiere very rapidly answers the biggest burning question left open<\/a> by the Season 3 finale, the episode introduces a new cliffhanger all its own.<\/p>\n

The episode begins with Will (Ram\u00f3n Rodr\u00edguez<\/a>, also directing) engaging in a spirited therapy session on the pickleball court with Dr. Roach (guest star Margaret Cho<\/a>), in which she encourages him to embrace his feelings of anger rather than subdue them.<\/p>\n

Soon, he\u2019s in a group therapy session of sorts with his biological father, Caleb (Yul Vazquez<\/a>), Nico (Cora Lu Tran<\/a>), Betty, and gobs of Caleb\u2019s relatives enjoying a meal. The only one he can truly connect to, though, is a little boy named Calvin, who only wants to talk about shark trivia.<\/p>\n

Then, the real shark of the series returns. Yes, James Ulster (Greg Germann<\/a>) is shown supping on caviar with another inmate and a guard for his so-called foodie club, which turns out to be just a cover for him to make a very violent escape. With his new prison pal by his side to do his bidding, James engages in a killing spree outside, and he has a string of adoring fianc\u00e9es literally lining up to help him on his journey to freedom.<\/p>\n

Angie Polaski (Erika Christensen<\/a>) \u2014 who is very pregnant and also becomes engaged to Seth (Scott Foley<\/a>) in a very sweet proposal scene \u2014 and Franklin (Kevin Daniels<\/a>) join forces with a desk duty-bound Michael Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin<\/a>) to pursue leads on Ulster\u2019s whereabouts on the ground. Meanwhile, Amanda (Sonja Sohn<\/a>), who is still on medical leave and recovering, returns to ensure the acting deputy director (who clearly wants to remain in that post, by the way) keeps Will far away from the Ulster case.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t stop Will from pursuing his mother\u2019s murderer, however, with Faith (Iantha Richardson<\/a>) helping him to surreptitiously investigate the crime scenes from James\u2019 various attacks across town.<\/p>\n

Soon, Will finds himself back in Ulster\u2019s orbit when the latter corners little Calvin in a park to lure Will to join him. \u201cTime to die,\u201d Ulster says ominously before Faith, Amanda, and Caleb find themselves standing before a burned-out car with two male bodies in it \u2026 and Will\u2019s recorder.<\/p>\n

To break down the details of this exciting Season 4 premiere and get a sense of what fans can expect to happen next as\u00a0Will Trent continues, TV Insider spoke to the best source possible: Ram\u00f3n Rodr\u00edguez himself.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of this episode, Will is struggling with some anger issues. How fun was it to play those out with Margaret Cho as his therapist in a pickleball game of all things?<\/p>\n

Ram\u00f3n Rodr\u00edguez: I know. I mean, we love Margaret Cho. She\u2019s just fantastic and so funny. And we thought how interesting that these therapy sessions\u2026 \u201cHow weird can we get with it?\u201d And having it on a pickleball court, which is strange, but however, it feels like we realized getting Will into his body more and out of his head is a good thing. And so we wanted it to be something physical where he\u2019s having this session with her. But we opened the season very quickly off the top, realizing that we\u2019re seeing him in front of the children\u2019s home, the anger that that brings up. And as the episode goes on, and actually as the season goes on, this theme of Will unraveling, it becomes really sort of highlighted. It\u2019s something that we wanted to really get into and explore and say, \u201cOK, here\u2019s this character who we\u2019ve always presented as put together about his job, trying to do the right thing, but hasn\u2019t really dealt with a lot of stuff from his past, from what\u2019s been happening to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his coping mechanisms is just to continue moving forward, which in many ways is a good thing. But in life, and if you\u2019re willing to really do the work, and as he is now exploring and being open to therapy, a lot of stuff comes up with that. And sometimes it\u2019s good, and it shines a light on something you didn\u2019t realize. And other times it could be you\u2019re triggering things from your past that you weren\u2019t aware of that were so loaded. And so that\u2019s kind of one of the fun themes we were playing with this whole season, but we kicked it off with the premiere and, like you said, with that really fun pickleball scene with Margaret Cho where she\u2019s sort of poking around it like, \u201cAre you really OK?\u201d And he\u2019s like, \u201cNo.\u201d He\u2019s just sort of blowing past, trying to act like he\u2019s just fine.<\/p>\n

\"WILL<\/p>\n

Disney \/ Lynsey Weatherspoon<\/p>\n

Many such cases with people starting therapy, right? And this episode reintroduces James Ulster, and we find out he has a weird paternal relationship with Will. So do you think that\u2019s authentic or that he\u2019s working with him like he does with the other desperate women?<\/p>\n

Greg Germann\u2019s portrayal of Ulster is really fun. The guy is, as a character, he\u2019s sort of all about himself. He\u2019s very arrogant and very manipulative. And so I think there\u2019s parts of it that we\u2019ll see might be helpful to Will. And there\u2019s parts of it where he\u2019s just sort of poking around, making fun of messing with his head. He\u2019s really trying to get inside Will\u2019s head and make him question things. He does kind of play this sort of paternal type of character for him in a weird way. But what\u2019s fun is Will has discovered who his father is, with Caleb played by Yul Vazquez. And so there\u2019s kind of \u2026 these two male figures that Will seems to have in his life now, who\u2019s someone who didn\u2019t have many figures or at least family in his life at all. It\u2019s kind of fun to watch him and to watch Ulster poke around at Caleb, and, \u201cWho\u2019s this guy?\u201d And, \u201cI could have been here.\u201d There\u2019s a lot of sort of manipulation tactics going on, but we\u2019re lucky we got some great cast with Yul Vazquez and Greg Germann to come back and dive into these parts. And so we\u2019re kind of picking up roughly five months after Season 3 and diving into all that stuff again.<\/p>\n

We also see, as you said, Will becoming involved with Caleb\u2019s family, but he\u2019s a bit resistant to them. Why does he keep them at arm\u2019s length when he was more open to his uncle\u2019s family in Puerto Rico?<\/p>\n

I think as we talked about it with the showrunners and the writers, it\u2019s one thing when you meet an uncle, and the way Antonio, played by John Ortiz<\/a>, came in so warm and open, and there was actually a lot of similarities \u2014 Antonio\u2019s also dyslexic, so they could relate to each other in a certain way. I think when it comes to this father figure and who this person is, and because they really butted heads when they first met last season, they did not get along. There was almost a competitive nature to them. He\u2019s a sheriff, Will\u2019s GBI. Those two kind of don\u2019t really get along. And then to find out that that\u2019s your father, I guess the way he finds out and the way he meets this man, and then it sort of brings up these feelings, I think, for Will, which is, \u201cWhere were you? Why didn\u2019t you come find me? I\u2019ve been in Atlanta, and you\u2019re telling me you\u2019ve been in Atlanta, and I\u2019m just\u2026\u201d So there\u2019s all this abandonment and all of these issues that Will had from his childhood. Interestingly enough, it\u2019s almost like it was easier when Will didn\u2019t know he had a father. And now that he knows he had one and that he\u2019s alive and was close by, it just turns up a lot of emotions and feelings for him. So I think even when he\u2019s in this very kind of warm setting in Caleb\u2019s home, Will just feels out of place. He\u2019s not really fitting in. He even connects with one of Caleb\u2019s grandkids and has more of a relationship with that kid than he does with his own dad. So I think he\u2019s trying to find his way and see if and how he fits in this family.<\/p>\n

We also see in this episode that Angie has some pause about marrying Seth because she still wonders about a life with Will. Do you think he\u2019s genuinely happy for her, or does he also still reminisce about what might\u2019ve been?<\/p>\n

What a complicated, loaded relationship these two have. They go so far back. They\u2019ve been through so much together. I think when we saw Will, last season, find out that Angie\u2019s pregnant and it\u2019s not his, obviously, and it\u2019s something he always wanted to start a family, I think that hit him really hard. That\u2019s kind of how we ended the season. And I think this season, we were really interested in watching these two characters who we\u2019ve watched sort of trauma-bonded with each other, and how can they now navigate these new waters of Angie trying to move forward? I mean, I think there\u2019s definitely a sense of Will is happy to see her happy and to see that she\u2019s with a doctor who\u2019s great. Him and the character, they actually get along. They bond on worms, and they had a funny scene last season, which was really great.<\/p>\n

But I think at the same time, there\u2019s the feeling of, \u201cWhat if?\u201d But I think we\u2019ll slowly, as the season progresses, we\u2019re kind of going to see that he\u2019s [discovering], \u201cHow do you navigate that water? How do you move forward?\u201d And especially, \u201cCan you be friends and move forward as friends with the history they have?\u201d And that\u2019s kind of one of the big questions we ask throughout.<\/p>\n

\"WILL<\/p>\n

Disney \/ Daniel Delgado Jr<\/p>\n

This episode has a lot of victims in it. Plus, the episode ends with the cliffhanger that Will and James\u2019 bodies are found in a burned-out car. So what can you tease about what\u2019s next after this? And what was it like for you to direct all of these horrific crime scenes at once?<\/p>\n

It was an interesting \u2026 When I saw the script, and we had talked a lot about it, I kind of loved this juxtaposition of the top of the season. We\u2019re catching up with all of our main characters, where they\u2019re at now, and what\u2019s happening. Ormewood\u2019s in chemo, we\u2019re seeing Angie setting up the nursery, we\u2019re seeing Amanda recovering from being shot. And we\u2019re juxtaposing that with when \u2026 we are reintroducing Ulster, who\u2019s in prison, and what\u2019s going on with him. And it was like that first act was so fun. We put this great piece of music underneath it that gave it this sort of \u2026 It lifted the scene and was able to carry us through the first act, but it kind of had violence, which is kind of like, we thought about it as the shark that\u2019s coming in the water and that\u2019s Ulster versus the outside world where everything seems to be kind of moving forward in a normal way, in normal fashion.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Will\u2019s obviously still struggling with what he\u2019s dealing with, but it was a great juxtaposition of these two worlds. And so it really set us up so that by the end of the episode, we\u2019re left with this real cliffhanger. I can\u2019t reveal too much, obviously, but I will say that\u2019s going to be the kind of season where we\u2019re going to really take folks through a real ride. That end of the episode is very questionable. Obviously, the show\u2019s called Will Trent. We\u2019re probably not going to lose our hero in the first episode, but we\u2019re going to see him sort of have to really navigate and deal with some real difficult decisions as to who he is \u2026 He\u2019s always been such a morally correct and trying-to-stay-on-the-right-path kind of guy. I think we\u2019re going to really push those boundaries and test him to see how far it will go.<\/p>\n

Will Trent, Tuesdays, 8\/7c, ABC<\/p>\n

-Additional reporting by Kelli Boyle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What To Know Will Trent Season 4 picked up months after the events of Season 3\u2019s finale, resolving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-225136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}